We've been on a roll with our British crime thrillers, and last night we added another heist movie to the list : "Calculated Risk"(1963), in which an ex-con and his brother-in-law plan and carry out a bank job with the help of three professionals. As the movie opens, "Kip" (John Rutland) has just been released from prison. He's picked up by "Steve" (William Lucas), the brother of his wife, who drives him to a cemetery to place flowers on her grave. Kip's wife died while he was in prison, after stoically suffering for years in their marriage. He reveres her, and keeps her picture close at hand, but he hasn't changed his ways. No sooner do they arrive at Steve's house, than Kip is pitching a "job" at him.
Steve listens, then shakes his head in disdain. "I swore to her I'd look after you once you got out", he says, referring to Kip's wife, "but only if you promised to go straight. I've got a real job lined up for you at my firm, but if you don't want it I'm washing my hands".
Before you assume Steve is a Straight Arrow Joe, hang on for a second. Kip then details the specifics of his pitch. "Just listen for a second, Steve. It's a job that'll net us 200,000 pounds". Kip diagrams it out for him, using salt and pepper shakers. "This is the bank, see, and right next door are two abandoned houses, both bombed out and sitting there since the war. In the first one there's a cellar, which leads to an air raid shelter in the next house. My cellmate was down there before he got pinched. This job was his idea! Anyhow, the air raid shelter lines up next to the bank vault, likely through a concrete and steel lining, but with a good explosives man and a tunneler, we'd be able to bring it off".
After some more discussion, we find out that Steve's pulled heists before, so he's not as clean cut as he pretends. But he holds Kip in low regard, and doesn't think he's got the brains or ability to direct a high-stakes caper, so he accepts the job on the condition that he'll be the leader. Kip has a heart condition anyway (for which he pops nitroglycerin pills), and is too frail for heavy work like tunneling. Steve decides to have him stay at home, a block away, and man the police scanner while the job's in progress.
The next act involves the setting up of the team. A tunneler is hired, a big man named "Nodge" (Terrence Cooper). Then they pick up "Dodo" (Shay Gorman), an Irish demolition expert, who's worked with a military bomb squad. Finally, they get a driver, "Ron" (David Brierly), who will pull up at a specified time to help them cart off the money.
Steve decides a test run is necessary, to estimate the time needed for each action, so he and Nodge spend a night in the cellar house : "If we're gonna be successful, we've gotta calculate it down to the minute. Everyone's gotta do his part with no screwups". The trouble is that Nodge can't keep his eyes off an upstairs window, located across the street, where a woman is removing her clothes. Steve reprimands him. "Bloody hell, Nodge! Keep yer bleedin' eyes on the sidewalk"! Nodge is supposed to be timing the rounds of the street beat policeman, but there's a reason he can't get over the naked girl. "My God, Steve! I know 'er! She works on the line at my factory"! He mumbles a few more awestruck words of admiration before Steve smacks him, but this diversion of his attention from the job at hand will prove to have consequences down the line.
Another problem that presents itself too late, is that Dodo, the bomb expert, is a drinker. Steve doesn't find this out until the tunneling is in progress. He's gonna need Dodo to be "all there" once they reach the bank vault barrier, but the Irishman's getting hammered on a covert bottle of whiskey. "Wanna slug"?, he offers, but Steve's not amused. These mishaps build tension, as does the arrival of a barking dog, and a group of stray kids. Will any one of them fracture the plan? The robbers are getting closer; Nodge has already pulled away much of the brick in the first cellar. But something will occur soon that will make the other problems pale in comparison. Keep in mind they're in a bombed-out house. Yet even this potential for disaster is not enough to make Steve call off the job. "We're talking about 200,000 pounds, remember. That's 40 thousand per man. Forget about that thing and keep digging; we're close - we're almost there".
We've remarked on the naturalistic acting in the British crime films of this period, and here it's at it's apex. You feel as if you're down there in the cellar with these men, closed in and claustrophobic, and your pulse races along with theirs' as they try to complete the job and get out, before it's too late. It feels real, like you're watching an actual bank heist. They react to the unexpected disruptions with confusion, as criminals might, but when the bigger problem presents itself, they dig in and strive harder. These are tough blokes, blunt and crude. For them, the money outweighs the danger.
"Calculated Risk" is super tight at 72 minutes and there's not a throwaway scene in the plot. You also get a treat with the musical score : it's by George Martin! (yes, that George Martin), who must've had some time off from producing The Beatles. I give the movie Two Big Thumbs Up. Thanks to our friends at Flick Vault for many of our recent British crime films. Check out their Youtube channel for more selections. /////
The previous night's picture was "The Quare Fellow"(1962), described on IMDB as a prison drama about a guard who is new to death row. The star was Patrick McGoohan, which is always enough for me. So I gave it a go, and it was......not quite what I expected.
The movie was adapted from a stage play by the famous Irish playwright Brendan Behan. I knew his name but not much about him. Googling afterward, I see he was a contemporary of Dylan Thomas (about whom I also know little), but I was aware they were both Irish authors, and while Irish is awesome, we've been more attuned to English culture in our viewings, which is relentlessly resolute - stiff upper lip and all that. The English "get on with it", they aren't much for heavy emotion, while Irish is very deep feeling. It's all heart, be it love, hate or hanging, which is what's taking place in this film.
It's grim stuff. a weighty drama about the morality of execution. McGoohan is good but hasn't much to do. The story has the philosophical underpinnings of a play, where the author's "voice" (opinions) are heard in the back and forth dialogue between the characters. This approach can tend to get heavy handed, and when the subject is hanging it is downright depressing. The film is well made in every respect, but way too overwrought. Also, whoever uploaded it on Youtube had the sound turned down to "barely audible", so I missed great chunks of dialogue when the lines were soft spoken.
I'll give you a synopsis of the plot and you can decide if it suits you. Patrick McGoohan arrives at the prison, which resembles a medieval dungeon. He's all business, a law and order officer, eager to learn the ropes of death row so he can help mete out justice to those who deserve it. His trainer is an older guard who's about to quit because he's seen enough. He tries to show McGoohan that executions are a format, cold and impersonal, which sounds appropriate until you see some of the bureaucratic details involved. McGoohan figures this is okay, considering the crimes the men have committed. But then, one night when off duty, he meets the wife of the man who is next to be executed. She's very upset and has a tale to relate, one which she held back at her husband's trial. He was convicted of murdering his brother. What she didn't tell the court was that she'd been sleeping with the man, so the crime was one of passion, and the charge should've been second degree murder, which is not punishable by death.
McGoohan eventually sides with her, and tries to get her an appointment with the warden so she can present her new testimony. This is where he learns the real truth about the unstoppable machinery of death, at least as it was in Ireland before capital punishment was abolished. He and the woman run into roadblock after administrative roadblock. The condemned man is never shown. The tone is of a bleak downward spiral, and that's all I will tell you.
I myself have gone back and forth on the issue of the death penalty during the course my adult lifetime, and have concluded that it's not something I can fairly weigh in on, because I've lost no one to murder (praise the Lord). When I was in my 20s and as far Left as you can get, I was 100% against it. Then when Polly Klass was murdered, I thought, "I'd pull the switch on that guy myself". There have been other subsequent horrors, and killers, about which and whom I've felt the same way. Then I fall back and think it's wrong overall. So yeah, I've gone back and forth, and have ended up being agnostic on the matter. I feel it's for the victims of crimes to decide, in concordance with the state, and not the general - and unaffected - public. I offer one disclaimer to my (non) opinion, which has of course to do with the wrongly convicted. The very chance, no matter how slim, of executing an innocent man should merit consideration of eliminating capital punishment altogether.
Well, I'll shut up about it, but it's up to you to watch the movie or not, as I'll neither recommend for or against it. I will give it Two Big Thumbs Up in terms of filmmaking, but it's one big downer as far as I'm concerned. Give it a shot if you're in the mood for something somber. ////
That's all for the moment. I'm now reading a biography of Brian Wilson, as I've really been getting into the music of The Beach Boys this summer. It's called "Catch A Wave" by Peter Carlin, and it's one heck of an amazing and strange story. I'd say "tragic", too, but it isn't tragic because Brian's still alive and well, and about to go on tour at age 80. Hope you're having a great day. I send you tons and tons of love, as always!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment